I'm freezing cold, completely saturated, my fingers are numb, my shoes are full of water, and I'm not even at the halfway mark.

This was not how today was supposed to pan out...

Today will probably go down in history as one of 'those' days on the Great Vic - a day when the weather played havoc with things and spoilt what should've been a spectacular day.

It was already shaping up to be a challenging day with a very big hill climb and ten kilometers of riding on an unsealed road, but when the thunder started rolling around the Rosedale campsite just after seven this morning, the level of difficulty escalated somewhat.

By the time we'd reached the first rest stop, the rain had more or less set in.

The big hill climb wasn't too bad in the end, but the further we went the thicker the clouds became until at times it was like riding through a thick fog.

With most riders (including myself) not carrying adequate wet weather gear, we quickly became sodden and cold - especially during the occasional downhill patches.

The gravel section of today's route had many riders worried, especially those with very thin tyres, and it wasn't an easy stretch - the rain made it muddy and slippery, and clogged chains and cogs with dirt and grit.

By the time I reached the lunch stop I was thoroughly saturated and struggling with the icy temperatures - the prospect of the 33 kilometer down hill run into Traralgon was losing it's appeal due to the cold, and many people pulled out at that point with Bicycle Victoria putting on extra sag wagons to take people from the lunch stop to Traralgon.

I decided to ride on though, and was glad I did - not long after the lunch stop the temperature seemed to warm up considerably, and by the time I got to Traralgon the sun was just poking through the clouds.

While some riders clearly struggled with what happened, many others were thrilled to have completed the day - undoubtedly one of the most challenging days ever on a Great Victorian Bike Ride.

At dinner there was plenty of discussion around the day as you'd expect - there were anecdotal stories about some of the school kids bring taken to hospital with hypothermia, and plenty of disappointment in not being able to take in what should've been spectacular views from the Grand Ridge Road.

Still, there's no way of controlling the weather and as the Event Organiser Darren Allen told me this afternoon, you can put in all the planning in the world on this event and have it ruined by the weather.

It was a pity, but at least we've had three really good days of riding so far, and although the forecast is suggesting a bit more rain towards the end of the week, hopefully it won't be anything like what we experienced today.

Day five is a rest day in Traralgon, and I'm sure everyone will be looking forward to regaining some energy before we head off again on Thursday.

Next year's route has also been announced tonight - in 2013 the Great Vic will return to the Great Ocean Road with a ride from Mt Gambier to Geelong.